Blog Archive

The WW1 Aviation Heritage Trust will host a fly-in at Stow Maries Aerodrome in Essex, England, on August 15 and 16, 2015. Flying demonstrations of the WAHT’s aircraft are expected: BE2e, Albatros D.Va and Sopwith Snipe, all built by The Vintage Aviation Ltd in New-Zealand. Source

The Canadian Museum of Flight in Langley has agreed to provide a replica of a Sopwith Pup for the 100th anniversary of the First World War battle of Vimy Ridge. They have 18 months to build one from scratch, then get it flight-tested and certified so that it can join other WWI replicas to commemorate the …

Squadron Leader Jeff Rees, who has died aged 94, carried out more than 60 operations with Bomber Command and twice flew badly damaged aircraft back to Britain. On one of these occasions, he was awarded the DFC for flying his flak-damaged Wellington home in perilous conditions. Read his obituary on the Telegraph.

Kenneth Tempest, who has died aged 93, flew with the RAF’s Pathfinder Force as a navigator and later became a pilot with BOAC; during his flying career he completed 788 crossings of the Atlantic. Read his obituary on The Telegraph.

Doug Gregory, who has died aged 92, flew night fighters during the Second World War in support of the main bomber offensive and was awarded the DFC after completing 69 operational sorties.In his eighties, he became the oldest stunt pilot in Britain. Read his obituary on The Telegraph.

The U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York, is naming its newest cadet barracks after Air Force Gen. Benjamin Oliver Davis Jr., a Tuskegee Airman who had graduated from the academy. Read the full story on Army.mil

Air Commodore Geoffrey Cooper, who has died aged 89, was a fighter pilot who saw action in the Middle East and in Malaya. For 11 years, he was the air correspondent of The Daily Telegraph and criticized Max Hastings’ book and views on the history of Bomber Command. Read his obituary on The Telegraph.

Wing Commander Stan Hubbard, who has died aged 93, was a wartime bomber pilot who went on to test experimental jet aircraft, including the so-called “Flying Bedstead”. He also claimed to have seen flying saucers. Read his obituary on The Telegraph.

A 1928 Waco ASO has flown again at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. The aircraft previously belonged to school co-founder Joyhn Riddle, and now sports the university’s colours. It will be displayed in flight at airshows and events to promote the school. Source

Geraldine “Jerrie” Mock, the first female pilot to fly solo around the world in 1964, has died aged 88. She flew her single-engine Cessna 180 “Spirit of Columbus” 23,000 miles in 29-plus days before landing in Ohio’s capital city on April 17, 1964. Source: LA Times

The Pentagon has indicated that the remains of seventeen airmen killed in the crash of their C-124 Globemaster in 1952 in Alaska were recently located and recovered. The crash killed another 35 service members, whose bodies have not yet been located. Source